Nagendra resigned to avoid embarrassment to Congress: DK Shivakumar
B Nagendra has submitted his resignation from the Karnataka cabinet. He cited avoiding embarrassment to the Congress party as his reason. Opposition parties had protested his alleged involvement in an Rs 89 crore scam. Nagendra stated he was voluntarily tendering his resignation after being hurt. The final decision on his resignation will be made after consulting the party high command.
Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar stated on Saturday that B Nagendra, who served in the state cabinet under the planning and statistics portfolio, has resigned from his position to prevent embarrassment to the Congress party. The resignation comes after opposition parties protested against Nagendra's alleged involvement in the Rs 89 crore Valmiki Corporation scam, with this being Nagendra's second resignation in 25 days.
Shivakumar confirmed that a final decision will be made after consultations with the party high command tomorrow morning.
Nagendra resigned due to false allegations made by the opposition and the disruption of Assembly proceedings, highlighting his status as a Dalit and Scheduled Caste leader who had defeated senior BJP leaders in elections. The Karnataka CM emphasized that Nagendra is innocent, and after reviewing the investigation reports and discussions, it was determined that there was no truth to the allegations against him. Nagendra described the BJP's treatment of a Dalit leader as hurtful to the wider poor population.
The opposition BJP, along with its ally JD(S), had been demanding Nagendra's removal from the Cabinet since his return to the position. In his resignation letter, Nagendra compared his treatment to Lord Ram's killing of Shambuka in the Ramayana, alleging that the 'manuwadis' never wanted a tribal person to rise. He claimed his name appeared in a second charge sheet filed by central agencies, which was not present in the first CBI charge sheet.
Nagendra expressed gratitude to several party leaders, including Shivakumar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and Siddaramaiah, for their support during this difficult time. Despite assurances from party leaders, he voluntarily resigned. He also announced plans to travel across Karnataka, including the 15 Assembly constituencies reserved for Scheduled Tribes, to raise awareness about the alleged injustice.
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